Serene Planet > ✅ Completed Projects > Rays of Hope

Rays of Hope – Flood Relief & Resilience in Feni

When floods hit, most efforts stop at relief. But Beyond the Waters was about more than handing out aid — it was about helping people stand stronger the next time. In July 2024, our volunteers mobilized quickly to provide essential relief in Feni. But they didn’t leave after the water receded.

Over the next month, they stayed on the ground, working directly with affected families to share practical recovery strategies, offer mental health first aid, and train locals in basic disaster preparedness. This wasn’t a one-way effort — it was a partnership, rooted in empathy and mutual learning.

Project Snapshot

Start Date 20 August 2024
End Date 30 September 2024
Category Disaster Response and Resilience
Location Feni District
Direct Impacted 420 Individuals
Volunteers Deployed 22 Trained Youth Volunteers
Sessions Held 6 Recovery and Resilience Sessions
Funding Voluntary & In-Kind Community Contributions

IN DEPTH

Challenge

In the aftermath of a flood, chaos sets in. People lose not only their belongings but their sense of control. Relief often arrives late or in mismatched form — too much of one item, none of another. In Feni, some areas were unreachable at first.

Another big challenge was trust. Many locals had seen aid workers arrive and vanish before. They were unsure about yet another group making promises.

Longer term, most families lacked access to accurate information on how to prepare for the next flood. There was fear, frustration, and a sense that nothing ever changes.

Solution

We started by listening. Our volunteers worked with local youth to identify the most urgent needs — clean water, dry food, basic health kits. We delivered them quickly, person-to-person, ensuring dignity in every exchange.

But our work didn’t stop there. Over the next four weeks, we held resilience sessions covering first response actions, water purification methods, and safe shelter planning. Locals shared their lived knowledge, and we paired it with simple, practical tools.

We also created small peer learning groups — neighbors teaching neighbors — so knowledge wouldn’t stay locked in a training session.

Result

More than 420 people were directly supported through both emergency aid and follow-up resilience training. Six dedicated sessions were held across three unions in Feni, and volunteers remained active long after the water drained.

Community members began mapping local flood-prone areas and identifying safe routes and communication trees. Some initiated small savings groups for future emergencies. Others expressed, for the first time, that they felt heard — not just helped.

Our volunteers, many of them first-timers in disaster response, grew rapidly in confidence, compassion, and crisis management skills. Several are now preparing to create district-based preparedness networks through Serene Planet.

Rays of Hope didn’t end with the flood. It started something more lasting: a shift from helplessness to readiness.